Accuracy • Independence • Integrity

Byard Duncan

Weekday routines can blur into a stale monotony. What mark many of our college experiences are the weekends and how we spend them. This is part of a series of narrative accounts that capture pieces of the social scene in Ithaca. In this snapshot, Senior Writer Byard Duncan gives a play-by-play of three late-night intramural…

Tattooing someone, according to Medusa Tattoo’s Cesar Enciso, is not simply about dragging a needle across the skin. It’s an arduously executed ritual in which every microscopic dot comes with a symbolism. More than that, it’s a technical feat — one susceptible to disaster with each rhythmic puncture. Limiting the danger of disease — or…

On a damp, chilly Tuesday evening on North Plain Street in Ithaca, only a few illuminated houses murmur hints of holiday cheer. The rest do not twinkle, they slump, their darkened angles drooping in perpetual, disinterested shrugs. Here, the groan of a passing car — normally a mere accent to a whizzing suburban symphony —…

Comstock Hall, the building that houses Cornell University’s library of entomology, was uncharacteristically packed Saturday afternoon. More than 3,000 people buzzed through its halls, sampling food and dipping their hands into grimy aquariums. The building reverberated like an excited hive with conversations bouncing and whizzing off its pocked stone. Visitors mingled, and everyone from toddlers…

Route 13, the four-lane highway that snakes north towards the Triphammer Mall, is a sort of tip of the hat to Ithaca’s commercial sector. Burps of car exhaust cast a peppery odor over convenience stores and gas stations. Rows of stoplights evoke a mini-Manhattan rush hour. For much of the day, it’s where otherwise good-natured…

The latest release from throwback funksters Lettuce is a tour of your dad’s old record collection, minus the mildew and mouse crap. “Rage!” is a decade-trotting encyclopedia of grooves and textures that makes pit stops at the altars of past greats without losing any of its own forward momentum. Blaring horn stabs in “Blast Off”…

The Maine-based Rustic Overtones formed in the early 1990s and enjoyed a wave of success throughout the decade. The seven-piece group recently reunited after breaking up in 2002 and will bring its horn-fueled sound to The Haunt tomorrow. Staff Writer Byard Duncan spoke to lead singer Dave Gutter about the band’s long history and more…

Listening to the Mars Volta is a lot like trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle in the middle of a hurricane. The band’s explosive compositions are equal parts mathematical logic and natural disaster, a constant zigzag between focused polyrhythmic breakdowns and the spastic drone of buzz-saw guitars. “The Bedlam in Goliath,” the band’s latest…

If the Beatles can be considered a force that redefined the genre of rock ‘n’ roll, it should now be said that Julie Taymor’s film “Across the Universe,” an unrelentingly lush visual exploration of the Fab Four’s repertoire, does much of the same for the American musical. The film’s plot, though at times skating on…

The Ithaca College Triple Threat Theatre company will kick off its 2007–08 season tomorrow with a production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!,” a 1961 musical that won seven Tony Awards and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play follows the tumultuous, showtune-infused career of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer…